The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) warned the online gambling operators that they must make sure all unfair restrictions for money withdrawals from customers’ accounts are removed. Otherwise, companies will have to face the gambling regulatory body’s enforcement action.
The main gambling regulatory body which monitors and controls the gambling sector in the UK is committed to raising standards to the customers of the country’s gambling industry and is aimed at making sure they are fairly treated by operators. As the UKGC Executive Director Paul Hope reminded, last month the Commission unveiled new rules set to make it and quicker for the regulator to take the necessary action whenever some principles of operation are violated by the companies.
The warning issued by the gambling watchdog comes after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced the results of its most recent investigation into unfair terms and practices in the country’s digital gambling sector. Yesterday, the CMA announced enforcement action against two gambling operators that have already promised to make certain changes in their terms and practices in order to make sure that their customers do not face any unfair terms when making a withdrawal from their accounts.
As a result of the CMA investigation, all gambling operators in the UK are now required to comply with the standards set out by the non-ministerial government department responsible for monitoring and control of business competition.
The UKGC and CMA have been working in collaboration in order to deal with unfair online gambling promotions. The latest announcement made by both regulations is set to improve the way customers are treated. In July, the Gambling Commission announced some new rules to crackdown on gambling companies that do not treat customers fairly, with the rules expected to be enacted on October 31st, 2018.
CMA Started Probe into Online Gambling in October 2016
The Competition and Markets Authority launched the investigation into online gambling in October 2016. At the time it announced the probe, the regulator said that it is aimed to check whether customers get fair treatment by online gambling companies in the UK.
The investigation started by the CMA followed the concerns which the UKGC had previously raised in terms of potential breaches of consumer law, including misleading promotions and unfair terms which the Commission believed to be used by companies to prevent players from withdrawing winnings from their accounts.
A year after the probe was launched, the CMA Project Director George Lusty provided some details about the investigation when speaking at the UKGC’ Raising Standards Conference. At the time, Mr. Lusty highlighted six key concerns which have been in the Authority’s enforcement action, saying that most of them related to online gaming promotions. Yesterday, the CMA published results of the probe, saying that any restrictions on customers’ cash withdrawals must be removed by online gambling operators to make it both easier and fairer to players to use their gambling platforms.
The CMA has taken action to ensure that a couple of companies make changes to their terms and conditions so that no more unfair practices are used to hold customers’ payments back.
- Author
Daniel Williams
